UWP 298/253 - Writing Program Administration

(4 units)

Course Description:  Theories, models, and procedures of writing programs, primarily in higher education. Developmental, first-year, and advanced writing programs, writing centers, writing-across-the-curriculum programs, writing minors and majors, and graduate programs in rhetoric and composition. 

Summary of Course Content:  History of Writing Program Design in U.S. Higher Education II. Transnational Models of Writing Program Design, including Emphasis on English as L2 III. The Rise of Required Composition IV. Program Models: Subsidiary, Free-Standing, Distributed, Internet-based V. Issues in Writing Program Administration: Personnel, Assessment, Public Relations VI. Writing Centers: From ”Labs” to OWLs to Modules VII. “Basic” Writing Issues: Placement, Program Levels, Proficiency VIII. Writing across the Curriculum and in Disciplines: History and Models IX. The Rise of Writing Majors and Minors X. Paths to the MA and PhD in Rhetoric and Composition.

Illustrative Reading:  Geller, Eodice, Condon, Carroll, Boquet. The Everyday Writing Center: A Community of Practice (Utah State U. Press, 2006) L’Eplattenier and Mastrangelo, eds. Historical Studies of Writing Program Administration: Individuals, Communities, and the Formation of a Discipline (Parlor, 2005) McLeod, Miraglia, Soven, Thaiss, eds. WAC for the New Millennium: Continuing Programs in Writing across the Curriculum (National Council of Teachers of English, 2001) O’Neill, Crow, Burton, eds. A Field of Dreams: The Independent Writing Program and the Future of Composition Studies (Utah State U. Press, 2002) Annual issues of the journal Rhetoric Review devoted to PhD Programs in Rhetoric and Composition Shamoon, Howard, Jamieson, eds. Coming of Age: The Advanced Writing Curriculum (Heinemann, 2000) Soliday, The Politics of Remediation: Institutional and Student Needs in Higher Education (U. of Pittsburgh, 2002) Thaiss, Braeuer, Carlino, Ganobcsik-Williams, eds. Writing Programs Worldwide: Profiles of Academic Writing in Many Places (Parlor Press/WAC Clearinghouse, forthcoming) Selected issues of WPA: Journal of the Council of Writing Program Administrators Yancey, ed. Delivering College Composition: the Fifth Canon (Heinemann, 2006).

Justification of Units:  The course will meet for one 3-hour session per week for ten weeks. Six hours of reading will be required to prepare for each 3-hour class period. The total of classes and outside reading time is 90 hours over ten weeks. The additional hour of credit is justified by the time required to research, draft, and revise a 15- to 20-page term essay, as well as complete weekly reading responses in an online forum, participate in one of several international online discussion forums devoted to writing program administration, and prepare a research presentation to the class. The time required to prepare and complete these assignments is approximately four hours per week, for a total of 40 over the ten weeks.